No building permit shall be issued for any of the uses listed below unless a site plan shall have first been approved by the Planning Board; provided, however, that this requirement shall not apply when the proposed development involves only a change in the use of any building or other structure or use of land for which approval is required and no new construction or structural alteration or enlargement of any existing building or other structure is contemplated:

A building permit may be issued without site plan review, provided that the new construction, structural alteration or enlargement does not exceed:

The Planning Board may waive notice and public hearing for an application for development if the Planning Board or Site Plan Committee of the Board appointed by the Chairman finds that the application for development conforms to the definition of "minor site plan." Minor site plan approval shall be deemed to be final approval of the site plan by the Board, provided that the Board or said Subcommittee may condition such approval on terms ensuring the provision of improvements pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-38, N.J.S.A. 40:55D-39, N.J.S.A. 40:55D-41 and N.J.S.A. 40:55D-53.

Minor site plan approval shall be granted or denied with 45 days of the submission of a complete application to the Building Department or within such further time as may be consented to by the applicant. Failure of the Planning Board to act within the period prescribed shall constitute minor site plan approval.

Whenever review or approval of the application by the County Planning Board is required by N.J.S.A. 40:27-6.6, the Planning Board shall condition any approval that it grants upon timely receipt of a favorable report on the application by the County Planning Board or approval by the County Planning Board by its failure to report thereon within the required time period.

The Zoning requirements and general terms and conditions, whether conditional or otherwise, upon which minor site plan approval was granted shall not be changed for a period of two years after the date of minor site plan approval.

Applications for preliminary site plan approval, including those involving conditional use approval or planned development approval (where permitted by this article or other controlling land use ordinances and regulations) shall be filed with the Building Department, together with the required site plan application fee. Three copies of the application shall be filed, together with 12 copies of the site plan meeting the design and detail requirements of § 188-41 of this article. In addition, at the time of filing, but in no event less than 10 days prior to the date set for public hearing, if a hearing is required pursuant to §§ 188-54, 188-55 and 188-56 of this article, the applicant shall file such additional information, plats, maps, drawings and other documents as is required by this article or as may be required to be filed by the rules and regulations of the Planning Board, not inconsistent with the requirements of this article.

If the applicant is not the owner of all of the lands which are the subject of the proposed development plan, all owners shall either join in the application or indicate on the application that they consent to such application. Proof of ownership in the form of deed, affidavit or other form satisfactory to the Planning Board shall be furnished with the application.

The Building Department shall retain the fee on behalf of the Township, recording on the application the amount and date of receipt and shall immediately forward the application and all copies of the plat to the Planning Board.

Applications shall be filed upon forms provided by the Planning Board and shall be obtainable from the Building Department office.

Applications shall be filed not less than 14 days prior to the date of the regular meeting of the Planning Board at which consideration of the application is desired.

Upon the filing of the foregoing documents and the payment of all requisite fees, the application shall be deemed complete. If the application for development is found to be incomplete or otherwise unsatisfactory or in need of amendment to meet the requirements of this article and/or the reasonable demands of the Planning Board consisted herewith and with Chapter 291 of the Laws of 1975, the applicant shall be notified, in writing, of the deficiencies therein by the Secretary or Clerk of the Planning Board for the determination of completeness within 45 days of submission of such application or it shall be deemed to be properly submitted.

Upon receipt of the complete application meeting the requirements of this article, the Planning Board shall retain two copies of the site plan and forward copies of such plan and related documents to: the County Planning Board, Township Clerk, Township Engineer, Township Board of Health, Township Construction Official, Township Tax Assessor, Township Planning Board Attorney and all other state, county and Township offices and departments having jurisdiction thereof, as required by law or by the provisions of this article, for their reports and recommendations concerning the proposed development. The reports shall be presented to the Planning Board at a regularly scheduled meeting on the application; detailed reasons for the disapproval must be set forth. Reports shall be filed with the Planning Board within 30 days of receipt of the site plan and related documents.

Procedure.

The Planning Board may allow the applicant to obtain a performance bond in lieu of the certified check as a performance guaranty. In the event that the Planning Board shall allow a performance bond then, the following shall be submitted to the Planning Board:

Following receipt and consideration of the reports received pursuant to Subsection C of this article or the expiration of 30 days without receipt of any such report(s), the holding of a public hearing pursuant to §§ 188-54, 188-55, and 188-56 of this article, if such a hearing is required, and amendments and charges, if any, made in the site plan in accordance with the reasonable demands of the Planning Board consistent with this article and the Municipal Land Use Law,[1] if the proposed development plan complies with this article and said Land Use Law, the Planning Board shall grant preliminary site plan approval.

Upon the submission of a complete application for a site plan which involves 10 acres of land or fewer and 10 dwelling units or fewer, the Planning Board shall grant or deny preliminary approval within 45 days of the date of such submission or within such further time as may be consented to be the applicant in writing. Upon the submission of a complete application for a site plan, if so required by the Planning Board, which involves more than 10 acres or more than 10 dwelling units, the Planning Board shall grant or deny the preliminary approval within 95 days of the date of such submission or within such further time as may be consented to by the applicant in writing. Otherwise, the Planning Board shall be deemed to have granted preliminary approval of the site plan.

Whenever review or approval of the application by the County Planning Board is required by N.J.S.A. 40:27-6.6, the Planning Board shall condition any approval that it grants upon timely receipt of a favorable report on the application by the County Planning Board or approval by the County Planning Board by its failure to report thereon within the required time period.

Preliminary approval of a site plan shall protect the applicant, for a three-year period from the date of the preliminary approval, from changes in the general forms and conditions on which preliminary approval was granted, including but not limited to use requirements; layout and design standards for streets, curbs and sidewalks; lot size; yard dimensions and off-tract improvements; and any requirements peculiar to such preliminary site plan approval. However, nothing herein shall be construed to prevent the Township from modifying by ordinance such general terms and conditions of preliminary approval as relate to public health and safety.

The applicant may submit for final approval on or before the expiration date of preliminary approval the whole or a section or sections of the preliminary site plan.

The applicant may apply for and the Planning Board may grant extensions on such preliminary approval for additional periods of at least one year but not to exceed a total extension of two years, provided that if the design standards have been revised by ordinance, such revised standards may govern.

Installation of improvements completed.

Filing. Applications for final site plan approval shall be submitted at any time subsequent to the complete installation of on-site and off-site improvements as required by Subsection H(1) of this section and prior to the expiration date of preliminary approval and processed in the same manner and in accordance with the same requirements as provided above in § 188-37E for the submission of an application for preliminary site plan approval, upon forms provided by the Planning Board for final approval and accompanied by the fee specified in § 188-15 of this chapter.

Processing. Upon the filing of the required application for final site plan approval accompanied by the required number of copies 12 of the final site plan and other related documents meeting the design and detail requirements of § 188-9 of this chapter and the payment of the requisite fees and the posting of the performance guaranties required by § 188-10 of this chapter, the application shall be deemed complete. If the application for development is found to be incomplete or otherwise unsatisfactory or in need of amendment to meet the requirements of this article and/or the reasonable demands of the Planning Board consistent herewith and with Chapter 291 of the Laws of 1975, the applicant shall be notified thereof by the Secretary (or Clerk) of the Planning Board within 30 days of submission of such application or it shall be deemed to be properly submitted. Copies of the final site plan shall be submitted in the Township Engineer and to the County Planning Board and such other state, county and Township offices and departments having jurisdiction thereof, as required by law or by this article, including any and all of the persons and agencies to whom copies of the preliminary site plan were sent as specified in § 188-37C(2) of this article, if deemed advisable by the Planning Board, for their reports and recommendations. The reports shall be filed with the Planning Board within 30 days of the date of receipt of the final site plan and related documents from the Planning Board.

Decision.

Final approval of a site plan application shall remain in full force and effect for a period of two years from the date of final approval, during which time the zoning requirements applicable to the preliminary approval first granted and all other rights conferred as a part of preliminary approval, whether conditional or otherwise, shall not be changed. If the developer has followed the standards prescribed for final approval, the Planning Board may extend such period of protection for extensions of one year but not to exceed three such extensions.

Final site plan approval shall expire at the end of this two-year period or two-year period as extended pursuant to this article, if applicable, unless within this period all construction work and site improvements covered by the approved site plan shall have been substantially completed and a good faith application shall have been made to the appropriate Township officer for a certificate of occupancy.

As a condition for final site plan approval, the Planning Board shall require the furnishing of a performance guaranty in favor of the Township in an amount not to exceed 120% of the cost of installation of improvements, as estimated by the Township Engineer, which the Planning Board may deem necessary or advisable to insure the installation of the same for the protection of the health, safety and welfare of the residents of the Township and other persons who may be affected by or use the development which is the subject of final approval, limited, however, to those improvements as specified above, said improvements being those which are not required to be completed and/or installed as a condition for final site plan approval.

The Planning Board shall be empowered to receive a performance guaranty for both on-site and off-site improvements, whether or not said are eventually to be accepted by and become the property and responsibility (to operate) of the Township, involving streets, graded pavement, gutters, curbs, sidewalks, shade trees, surveyor's monuments, streets, traffic control signs and devices, water and water system appurtenances, culverts, sewers, sanitary sewers and other sewage disposal, drainage structure facilities, erosion control and control devices, public improvement space, landscaping and other on-site improvements related to the foregoing.

As a condition for final site plan approval, the Planning Board shall require the furnishing of a maintenance guaranty for a period not to exceed two years after final acceptance by the Township of those improvements which are to be accepted by and become the property and responsibility (to operate) of the Township in the amount not to exceed 15% of the cost of the improvement, as estimated by the Township Engineer.

All performance and/or maintenance guaranties required by the Planning Board as a condition for final site plan approval shall be governed by and comply with the provisions and requirements of § 188-10 of this chapter regarding development plan guaranties.

Every development plan shall be prepared by a New Jersey licensed architect or a New Jersey licensed professional engineer and shall contain the raised seal of said architect or said engineer, and the development plan shall be drawn to a scale of not less than (1) inch equals 30 feet if the subject property is fewer than two acres; to a scale of not less than one inch equals 50 feet if the subject property is more than two and fewer than five acres; and to a scale of not less than one inch equals 100 feet if the subject property is more than five acres. Every development plan shall show the following:

Building plans. There shall also be submitted one set of drawings of every principal or accessory structure proposed to be erected or altered on the subject property. The drawings shall show at least the schematic floor plans and exterior design. The exterior design shall show all elevations of the structures and indicate the proposed construction materials and general design and architectural styling.

Design standards and construction of on-site and off-site improvements, streets, sidewalks, curbing, roadways and internal roads, parking areas, pavement, street signs, storm drainage construction, water mains, sanitary sewers and all related improvements shall be constructed, installed and located in accordance with the design standards and improvement requirements, to the extent applicable to site plans, of this article, pursuant to this article.

Lot requirements and location, size and height and structures.

Off-street parking.

Adequate landscaping, including screening and buffer planting, and shade trees.

Stormwater disposal, impact of the same to ensure against flooding.

Sanitary sewage disposal and waste disposal, water supply and utilities in general.

Signs.

Outdoor lighting.

Building design.

Preservation of existing natural resources on the site.

Safe and efficient vehicular and pedestrian circulation, including suitable and safe access for fire-fighting and emergency vehicles to buildings.

Prevention of unreasonable interference with traffic on surrounding streets.

Suitable size, shape and location of any public use areas or open space areas reserved and set aside for use and benefit of residents of planned developments including residential cluster to the extent permitted by this article.

Protection and conservation of soils from erosion by wind, water or from excavation or grading.

Promotion of a desirable visual environment and aesthetic consideration. The Planning Board shall in reviewing a site plan generally consider the impact of the proposed development upon the Township and its residents to determine if it is in furtherance of the purposes of the Municipal Land Use Law as set forth in N.J.S.A. 40:55D-2 and whether the proposed site plan is conducive to the orderly development of the site and the general area in which it is located.

Every application for preliminary site plan approval shall comply with the requirements of §§ 188-37J and K of this article, except to the extent exceptions from such requirements are granted by the Planning Board pursuant to § 188-41 of this article.

In addition, an application for final site plan approval and the final development plan must include and show the following:

In the event that a preliminary or final site plan is approved by the Planning Board, a notation to that effect shall be made upon the development plan, including the date of approval, and signed by both the Chairman and Secretary of the Planning Board, following indication of approval thereon by the Township Engineer. Copies of such plan bearing such notation and signatures shall be forwarded to the applicant, the Township Engineer, the Township Clerk and the Township Construction Official, and one such copy shall be placed in the Planning Board files.

In the event that the Planning Board disapproves the development plan or revised plan, a notation to that effect, including the reasons therefor, shall be made upon or attached to the development plan or revised plan and signed by the Chairman and Secretary of the Planning Board. A copy of the plan bearing such notation shall be returned to the submitting party.